Review of Martian (2015) by Patrick L — 29 Feb 2016

"The Martian is another strong piece of science fiction from director Ridley Scott. It is a triumph".

Movie Review: The Martian.

Date Viewed: October 3 2015.

Directed By Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Prometheus, Thelma & Louise, Blade Runner, Matchstick Men and American Gangster).

Screenplay By Drew Goddard, Based on the novel by Andy Weir.

Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig,.

Michael Pena, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan,.

Sean Bean, Aksel Hennie, Benedict Wong, Mackenzie Davis and Donald Glover.

It is easily one of the year's best films. "The Martian" is another strong piece of sci-fi from director Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner, Black Hawk Down, Gladiator). It is a triumph. It is about an astronaut who gets stranded on Mars after getting hit by debris during a fierce storm. In order to stay alive, he must use his knowledge to grow a potato-farm on the red planet. This task is so impossible, the astronaut Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) says, "I got to science the $&@? out of this". Not only does Damon give another terrific performance, he has to carry most of the movie's weight. Damon, director Scott and screenwriter Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods) have made a movie that will not only satisfy space fanatics but also mainstream audiences and fans of Mr. Scott who have been disappointed with his last two movies (The Counselor and Exodus: Gods and Kings).

Based on the book by Andy Weir, "The Martian" is set in the future where meet a group of astronauts led by engineer Mark Watney (Damon) and mission commander Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain). The Ares III crew are here to conduct experiments and find samples from the red planet to bring back home but when a massive Martian storm hits the base and the crew, Watney gets hit by debris and is presumed dead by his crew who are forced to abandon the planet and the mission for their own safety.

Watney survives the storm but his crew and the Ares III ship left him behind and he is unable to make contact with NASA. After checking all the food on the base he has left, he calculates that he only has 300 days of food. He also records a series a video logs to maintain his condition and status on the red planet even though it is going to be a long time before anyone comes to rescue him.

Reviewing satellite images from the red planet, Mars mission director Vincent Kapoor (Chiwetel Ejiofor) realizes that Watney is still alive and he immediately informs NASA director Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels) about this shocking news. Sanders says that he has no rescue plan in place for Watney and he thinks the Ares III crew should focus on their own mission, coming back home to Earth.

Watney contacts NASA with a Mars space rover that was defunct since 1997 and he is now able to send and receive messages.

With not enough food for him to survive on Mars, Watney decides to grow a potato-farm on the central room of the base. How does he grow potatoes on Mars? It's something that's brown but I won't give away what it is. When a severe accident on the airlock of the base wipes out a majority of Watney's projected food supply, the Ares III change course and take on a risky mission to return to Mars and get Watney out of the planet.

Ridley Scott has out together an amazing ensemble cast, each of the supporting players get their moment to shine. The supporting cast includes Daniels, Chastain, Ejiofor, Michael Pena, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan and Kristen Wiig as the NASA spokesperson. Even though he already played a stranded astronaut in "Interstellar", Matt Damon is much more grounded here as he gives one of his best performances.

In his nearly 40-year tenure as a great filmmaker, "The Martian" is Ridley Scott's best movie since "Gladiator".

The Oscar race has begun and I see "The Martian" as a potential contender. It's flat-out brillant.